1,720,995 research outputs found
“An Inquiry into the Methodological Awareness of Experienced and Less-experienced Italian CLIL Teachers”
Get PDFThe role of CLIL teachers is crucial for the quality and effectiveness of CLIL programs. In order to fully understand the teacher’s role in CLIL, ‘the hidden side of the work’ is of pivotal importance: cognitive aspects related to what they ‘know, believe, and think’ exert a substantial influence on how they actually teach. Given the linguistic and methodological nature of CLIL, teachers’ awareness of the methodological features of CLIL appears to be particularly relevant in this respect. Based on the Italian context – where a recent School Reform has made CLIL compulsory in the final year(s) of high school – an investigation on the differences in terms of methodological awareness has been carried out between teachers who have been teaching in CLIL since before it became compulsory in the last year of high school (in 2014/15) and teachers who started teaching in CLIL as from 2014/15. Implications will be discussed and suggestions for practice and further research will be offered
“Invested effort for learning in CLIL and student motivation: How much are they related? Answers from the Italian context”
No full textIl CLIL rappresenta una sfida importante per gli studenti, i quali sono chiamati ad apprendere una materia non linguistica e, allo stesso tempo, migliorare la propria competenza in una lingua straniera/seconda. Risulta cruciale che gli apprendenti siano motivati al fine di ottenere risultati positivi quando coinvolti in progetti CLIL. Con riferimento al contesto italiano, dove una Riforma scolastica relativamente recente ha reso il CLIL obbligatorio all’ultimo anno di scuola secondaria superiore, è stata condotta un’indagine sulle percezioni degli studenti: l’obiettivo era quello di sondare sia il livello di impegno investito dichiarato dagli studenti sia il loro grado di motivazione per l’apprendimento in CLIL. Si è prestato particolare attenzione al comportamento reciproco fra impegno e motivazione, ed è stata analizzata la direzione e l’entità della loro relazione
BIER, A. (2015): DÖRNYEI, Z., & KUBANYIOVA, M. (2014), Motivating Learners, Motivating Teachers. Building vision in the language classroom. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
No full textBIER, A. (2015), “An exploration of the link between language and cognition: from Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory to CLIL”.
No full textIn this article, we will explore the work of several scholars who, albeit operating in different contexts, have adopted Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory as a starting point for their research. First of all, Vygotsky’s work will be briefly presented; second, Barnes and Mercer’s research on L1 and cognition will be commented; third, Swain’s research in immersion contexts will be shortly outlined; finally, the CLIL environment will be explored. The fil rouge which bonds all these contributions is the belief according to which language does not just ‘carry’ information but shapes thought
From effective lecturing behaviour to hidden cognitions: a preliminary model explaining the Language-Teaching Methodology Interface
No full textThis contribution reports on the findings of a project whose aim was to explore the construct of the language-teaching methodology interface (LTMI) in lecturing through English. Evidence of its existence will be provided and implications for teacher training will be considered. On the assumption that the LTMI can be characterised by the co-existence of a practical and a cognitive dimension, in previous contributions we focused on such elements. First, following Björkman ([2011] “Pragmatic Strategies in English as an Academic Lingua Franca: Ways of Achieving Communicative Effectiveness?.” Journal of Pragmatics 43 (4): 950–964), we carried out an intensive analysis of a number of observed lectures with the aim of exploring the interplay between the use of pragmatic strategies and non-standardness at the morphosyntax level in EMI lectures in an Italian context. Afterwards, through qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews, we sought to uncover those conditions lying underneath observable behaviour. In the present contribution, first, the extensive analysis of observed lectures is described. Second, steps taken within the framework of fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (Ragin [2000] Fuzzy-set Social Science. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, [2008] Redesigning Social Inquiry. Fuzzy Sets and Beyond. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press) to analyse all findings obtained are illustrated. Empirical findings seem to support the claim according to which the two dimensions of language and teaching methodology do have blurred boundaries: the results obtained may therefore be interpreted as a first confirmation of the existence of the multifaceted construct of the LTMI
On the hidden dimension of the interface between language and teaching methodology: Lecturers’ cognitions on EMI
No full textQuesto contributo fa parte di un più ampio progetto di ricerca il cui obiettivo ultimo è di definire e spiegare il costrutto dell’interfaccia lingua-metodologia didattica nell’insegnamento accademico in inglese. L’obiettivo specifico che ci proponiamo in questa sede è di esplorare il ‘lato nascosto’ del comportamento osservabile dei docenti per capire su cosa esso si fondi e per aggiungere un tassello alla nostra comprensione del funzionamento dell’interfaccia, costrutto che si posiziona nell’intersezione tra lingua e metodologia didattica e tra comportamento (osservabile) e cognizioni (nascoste). I dati empirici che verranno commentati comprendono audio-registrazioni e trascrizioni di interviste semi-strutturate con docenti che insegnano la loro materia (non linguistica) in inglese in un’università pubblica italiana. Questa indagine qualitativa ha rilevato quattro condizioni causali, ricavate dalla sintesi delle cognizioni su EMI dei partecipanti alla ricerca: consapevolezza di ciò che significa insegnare e di ciò che implica, conoscenza degli studenti, approccio alla lingua inglese, consapevolezza della lingua e della literacy specifica della disciplina insegnata. Si produrrà una descrizione delle quattro condizioni individuate e si fornirà il profilo dei docenti partecipanti relativamente a ciascuna di esse
BIER, A. (2013): MENEGALE, M. (2013) (Ed.), Autonomy in Language Learning: Getting Learners Actively Involved, [ePub], Canterbury, UK: IATEFL.
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On the Interplay between Strategic Competence and Language Competence in Lecturing through English. Findings from Italy
Get PDFThe present contribution is part of a wider research project whose overall goal is to define the construct of language-teaching methodology interface in lecturing through English. This paper aims at exploring the interplay between the use of pragmatic strategies and non-standardness at the morphosyntax level in lectures conducted through English as the academic lingua franca in an Italian public university. In pursuing this aim, the main differences between findings from previous research carried out in Sweden and those obtained in the setting under investigation will be documented. Results indicate that pragmatic strategies are adopted quite often during lectures and lecturers show higher degrees of non-standard morphosyntax in their spoken production, compared to what happens in the Swedish context
BIER, A. (2015): MENEGALE, M. (2015), Apprendimento linguistico: una questione di autonomia? Modelli di sviluppo dell’autonomia di apprendimento linguistico e prospettive educative possibili. Trento, Italia: Erickson.
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